Method of pressing and finishing textile fabrics.



No. 634,652. Patented Oct. I0, |899.'

J. SARFERT.

METHOD 0F PRESSING AND FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS.

(Application led Dec. 23, 1897.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

CUM- l IIIIIIII we ohms wens co. womrxjlma. WASHINGTON, n rz METHOD 0F PRESSING AND FINISHING TEXTILE FABRICS.

(Application led Dec. 23, 1697.)

IHM v SONS( m 5v. /MM

UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.A

.IULIUS SARFERT, OF REICHENBACII, GERMANY.

METHOD OF PRESSING AND FINISHING TEXTlLE FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,652, dated October 10, 1899.

Application tiled December 23, 1897.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, JULIUS SARFERT, a subject of the German Emperor, and a resident iof Reichenbach, in the Kingdom ofk Saxony,

German Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Methods or Processes of Pressing and Finishing Textile Fabrics, (for which I have received Letters Patent in Germany, No. 72,649, dated October 26, 1892; Iin France, No. 230,169, dated May 18, 1893; in Great Britain, No. 11,143, dated May 20, 1893; in Austria-Hungary, No. 4,3921'/ 3,7581', dated November 13, 1893; in Switzerland, No. 0,814, dated May 18, 1893; inSpain, No. 15,195, dated January 30, 1894; in Belgium, No. 107,311, dated November 22, 1893; in Italy, No. 69/258, dated December 31, 1893, and in Russia, No. 24,0143, dated November 30, [December 12,] 1895 and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, and to letters of reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of pressing and finishing textile fabiics-sucl1, for example, as ladies dress goods, mens wear, billiard-cloth, rbc.

In the methods heretofore employed for pressing fabrics of the class referred to they are usually rst folded or doubled longitudi nally, followed by folding them transversely in a zigzag manner, with the usual press` boards between the folds, after which the goods are placed on the vertically-movable bed or platen of a suitable hydraulic press. The pieces of thus-folded fabric are laid in superposed layers on the preceding length, and so on until the' desired quantity is mounted in the press. Meanwhile metal plates are placed between the cuts or pieces7 of cloth, one or more plates, say, for each length or piece of fabric. In the textile industry a cut or piece of cloth refers to one continuous length of cloth, generally of from forty to sixty yards. In case the plates are hollow they are severally connected by compensating tubular joints to suitably-valved steam-pipes, whereby the plates are heated by the steam circulating through them, the platen of the Serial No. 663,144. (No specimens.)

press at the same time being gradually forced upwardly. Sometimes the plates used are solid. In such case the plates are heated in an oven to a comparatively high temperature before being placed in the press. There are objections or disadvantages inherent in such form er pressing operations-that is to say, in the application of the interposed metal plates, whether direct or steam heated, they are necessarily disposed at quite a distance apart vertically. This is due to the fact that the necessary thickness of the plates occupies so much room in the press that apart from the impracticability of using such a method for reasons well known to those versed in the art the amount of fabric finished would be comparatively small if they were interposed between each layer or even between three or four layers. Moreover, in such case the plates would produce streaks in the fabric, thus making an uneven finishin the goods. The metal plates are necessarily heated to a temperature considerably exceeding that which is required to nish the cloth, as otherwise the interposed layers would not be even warmed through 5 but even then the cloth nearest or contiguous to the heating-plates will become overheated and overfinished, while the other or intermediate layers are insufficiently heated and finished, the result being that the goods when taken from the press are found to be unevenlynished. By the employment of my improved process the quality of the product or output is much more' uniform in finish, while the amount of goods treated or operated upon in a given time as compared with former operations is considerably increased.

In carrying out my invention I employ individual press-boards adapted to be electrically heated and interposed between each layer or fold of cloth, the press-boards being quite thin. W'hen a current of electricity having sufficient strength is passed simultaneously through the several pressboards, the heat thus generated is transmitted to and acts upon the adjacent layers of the confined fabric, the latter at the same time being compressed in the pressing-machine under considerable pressure, and since the degree of heat or temperature may be adjusted or regulated as desired it follows that none of the IOO f; ceases layers of cloth will become overheated or overfinished, while the time required for conducting the heat from the press-boards is greatly reduced, since the applied heat permeates the cloth almost immediately.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure l is a front elevation of a clothpressing machine well adapted to be employed in carrying out my improved process 'of pressing and finishing textile fabrics as in use. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line Cc .fc of Figi l. Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section taken on line o o of Fig. l. Fig. t is a perspective view of one of the press-boards or plates adapted to be electrically heated; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the plate, showing the interior construction.

A, again referring to the drawings, indicates a cloth-pressing machine as a whole provided with means adapting it to be employed in carrying out my improved method or process of pressing and finishing textile fabrics. The press as drawn is provided with a vertically-movable bed or platen l, having a piston or plunger p extending downwardly therefrom and mounted in the cylinder c, as common. The platen is adapted to be actuated through the medium of water or other suitable agent under great pressure admitted to the cylinder and pressing against the end of the piston. At the upper portion of the press is located a. stro'ng head la, the same being supported by and secured to the four vertical heavytension-columns fr, the lower ends of the latter being fixed to the cylinder, also as usual. As thus constructed it will be seen that room or space is provided between the faces of the 4said head and platen members in which the fabric is con [ined during the pressing and iinishing operation.

The improved lness-boards l) employed in the pressing and finishing operation may be composed of two pieces or sheets of hard and smooth cardboard or other suitable material or substance laid latwise one upon the other and cemented or united together by some suitable cement. Arranged between the said pieces of cardboard is an interposed electrica-l conductor u., made, preferably, of suitable thin sheet metal, the same being bent or cut out in a zigzag shape, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The conductor 0. may be made of wire and also arranged in a zigzag manner, so as to form a resistance to the free parsage through it of the electric current, the resultbeing that when the conductor is electrically energized it'also becomes heated, say, to incandescence. Theheat thus generated permeates or is transmitted through the press-board, thereby heating it. 'lhe ends of the conductor d extend through the corresponding ends of the pressboard and form terminals d, adapted to be readily coupled to suitable circuit wires or conductors.

As drawn, there is located contiguous to the press a pair of vertically-arranged posts or bars d, each having, say, an insulating-plate d', secured thereto along its side. The bars d. may be grooved vertically to receive the corresponding live pole or conductor of an electric circuit, the conductor being at the back of the insulating-plate d. At shortintervals vertically the plates are provided with flexible branch conductors c, the latterl being insulated from one another through the medium of the plate and also by means of individual switches or cut-outs. (Indicated at s, Figs. l and 2.) Thus it will be evident that any or all of the conductors e may be encrgized at will by the current with which the main conductor is charged. In Fig. l one ol.' the vertical bars d is represented as being connected to the positive pole or conductor it ot' an electric circuit, while the other bar is connected to the negative pole uf.

rlhe condnoter-carrying posts d may be suspended from suitable trolleys l, vmounted to travel on overhead tracks b, substantially as shown in Fig. l. The posts are also adapted to swivel or turn axially. As thus constructed the relation of the posts to the press or to each other may be changed, such feature being especially desirable in case a number of presses are arranged in a row, the posts in such event being rolled along from press to press to effect the pressing and `finishing operation.

ln carrying ont my improved manner of pressing and finishing textile fabrics through the medium of mechanism substantially as hereinbefore described the cloth f is first suitably folded, say, in a zigzag manner, meanwhile inserting or interposing the pressboards P and the usual boards 'a between the folds of the cloth and then placing the whole on the platen B of the press A, substantially as shown enlargedin Fig. 3, wherein the relative thicknesses of the cloth and press-boards are considerably exaggerated, the operation being continued, if desired, until the press is filled. The several short liexiblc conductors e of each post d are next coupled er connected to the respective terminals ft/ oi the corresponding press-boards P, followed by gradually forcing the piston p ulnvardly, thereby compressing the goods mounted in the press. At the same time the electric current of the circuit Hows from the main or positive pole er conductor u, via the corresponding post (Z and branch conductors e,into the press-boards and from the latter, via the other series ,ot' conductors c and their post d, to the negative pole or conductor it', thereby closing the circuit. Owing to the presence of the resistance-conductors d in the press-boards, the flow ofthe electric current is retarded, thereby increasing the temperature and heating the press-boards to a correspondingdegree. The heat thus produced may be continued as long as desired and is taken up or absorbed by the cloth.

l prefer to place heavy metal or cardboard plates, as m, at intervals throughout the pressload. Vthesc serve to give greater stability IlO to the pile and at the same time insure a more uniform degree of pressure upon the goods.

The free ends of the flexible branch conductors or connections e are arranged to be readily and easily coupled to or uncoupled from the terminals d. (See Fig. 1i, wherein the spring-clip e', being a conductor of electricity, is adapted to frictionally engage the terminal.) lVhen the connections e are not in use or disconnected from the press-boards, they hang freely from the posts d. I would add that in order to produce varying degrees of resistance to the electric current a suitably-located resistance-box R may be interposed in one of the line conductors, as u, Fig. 1, the same, however, being` in addition or auxiliary to the resistance members a, mounted in the press-boards.

As before stated, by means of my improvement the quantity of goods treated or operated upon in a given time is not only greatly increased, but the quality of the iinish im* parted to the fabric thus pressed is more uniform and superior, since the fabric is not overheated. Moreover, by means of this improvement the goods can be uniformlyheated to any degree desired and for any desired length of time. The press-boards are light and can be easily handled and are comparatively inexpensive.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by United States Letters Patentl. The method of finishing cloth which consists in iirst folding the same, second, inserting electrically-conducting press-boards be'- tween certain folds of said lcloth and then passing' an electric current through said pressboards, whereby the folds of the cloth are suitably heated, substantially as described.

2. The method of finishing cloth which consists in first folding the same, second, inserting electrically-conducting press-boards between certain folds of said cloth, third, interposing non-conducting press-boards between the intervening folds and then passing an electric current through said conducting pressboards, whereby the various folds of cloth are suitably heated, substantially as described.

The method of finishing cloth which con sists first in folding the same, second, inserting electrically-conclucting press-boards between certain folds of said cloth, third, pass ing an electric current through said pressboards, whereby the folds of cloth are suitably heated, and then applying pressure to the cloth, substantially as described.

4. The method of finishing cloth which cousists in folding` the same, then inserting electrically-conducting plates or press-boards between certain folds thereof, then electrically heating said press-boards while the folds are subjected to pressure, substantially as de-Y scribed.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

.IULIUS SARFERT.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM FmDLER, KARL IIROTENHIERDT. 

